Despite a combined annual income of $250,000, a young couple from Portland, Oregon, are having a hard time becoming homeowners.
According to Fox Business, Laura and Samuel Graves, both 36, are holding off on buying a home because the market is particularly tough for young buyers. The couple, who have two young children, have decided to start a family in a suburban Portland apartment while they wait for prices to drop.
$5000 per month
The couple wants to spend $3,000 a month on their mortgage. However, in today’s market, the couple would have to spend close to $5,000. High interest rates also make it difficult for buyers.
“We refuse to become poor because of our house and, like many others, we choose to wait until the housing market becomes reasonable again,” Laura Graves, who works as a financial analyst, told Business Insider in an interview.
In the current context, the American couple devotes 3% of their income to their retirement, rather than 15%.
“Our children have started telling us they want a house so they can have their own room,” the mother added. “By the time we become owners, we won’t even need room for a playset for them.”
To save money, they decided to send their children to day camp part-time instead of full-time.
Real estate company Zillow estimated that in the Portland area, where the Graves family is looking for a property, the average home value is $541,000, and $642,000 in the suburb of Wilsonville, where the family currently resides.
